


Sharing Is Caring

by AmarahOsiris



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Case Fic, Commission from tumblr, Coughing, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Fainting, Fever, Fluff and Angst, Graphic Depictions of Illness, I Blame Tumblr, Mild Language, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pneumonia, Tumblr - oneshoeshort, mentions of vomiting, wheezing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 02:37:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16461809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmarahOsiris/pseuds/AmarahOsiris
Summary: The reader comes down with something, but in true Winchester fashion, she keeps it hidden until it’s too late.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta’d. All mistakes are my own.
> 
> WARNING: ANGST, SICKNESS, ILLNESS, INJURY, MORE ANGST, EXPLICIT LANGUAGE  
> (Chapters will be individually warned)

* * *

 

Waking up in the morning was one of Y/N least favorite activities of the day. She wasn’t like her boyfriend Sam, who woke up early to go for a run no matter the weather. While she admired him for his tenacity for staying healthy, she wasn’t about to join him.

On this particular morning, she was especially thankful she didn’t go running. She felt off. And Sam was long gone by the time she woke up.

It started as a tickle in the back of her throat, then it escalated slightly to a coughing fit. Weak enough to conceal but enough to be noticed if she didn’t control it. Y/N knew if she didn’t, both Sam and Dean would take note and inquire. That’s the last thing she needed. Dean was a bit of a germaphobe to those who know him best. She just prayed it stayed manageable.

But when did prayer actually work?

_It doesn’t,_ she thought.   _Anyone close to the Winchesters doesn’t have that kind of luck._

Over the next few weeks, the cough did get worse, making it harder for her to conceal. She worried the boys were going to say something.

There was some luck was on her side though. Neither one of them brought it up. She was starting to wonder if they were purposefully ignoring it, or if they were just oblivious. There was a lot on their plate at the moment.

She knew Dean would’ve ignored it, but Sam? Sam practically worshiped the ground she walked on. If there was the slightest possibility of her getting sick, he would be all over it and wouldn’t rest until she was better.

She did some research online and found a host of home remedies to try out. Drinking lemon tea, hot water, cold and hot compresses on her throat, and just drinking more water in general. She even went as far as to purchase and use those cough drops and throat sprays. From that she learned two things. One, they all tasted some akin to rotten eggs. And two…they made her cough worse.

_Lovely_.

She thought about going to a doctor. But that would mean telling the brothers she either needed a ride or to borrow one of the cars. If she asked for a ride, she’d have to be honest; she knew they wouldn’t let her go alone and they sure as hell wouldn’t drop her off somewhere and make her walk. They would either follow or watch her until she was safely inside, and then Sam and Dean would be mad for keeping it from them.

And for another, at this point she was too ill to walk any further than a few steps. Hell, she could barely stand without getting dizzy.

If she borrowed a car, she could lie, say she was going somewhere else. Even somewhere close to the doctors so the car was parked close. But then again, Sam had LoJack installed on every car the bunker’s garage held. A push of a button would activate it remotely. Meaning her lie would be found out sooner than she could figure out another one.

_Perhaps I’m worrying too much,_  she thought.  _They’ve never gone full stalker mode on me. Maybe they just straight up haven’t noticed anything._

She sighed, which caused her to cough some more. Until she figured out what more to do, she knew she was stuck dealing with this…whatever it was, on her own.

—

“I think I found something!”

Sam came into the kitchen with his tablet and showed Y/N and Dean a news article he’d found. Y/N felt worse than she had since the cough started. She was probably running a fever too, and she had no appetite. But that didn’t stop her from accepting a cup of coffee from Dean. Despite it doing nothing to ease her aching throat, she had to keep up appearances.

“Whatcha got, Sammy?” Dean replied.

“Three vics all within the same block. Hearts ripped out, left to rot.”

“Werewolf,” Dean finished his coffee in one gulp. “Alright. Let’s get ready to head out. We leave in an hour.”

While Sam nodded and left the kitchen, and Dean started cleaning up the breakfast dishes, she slowly wandered back towards the room she shared with Sam.

She started to wonder whether or not it was a good idea for her to be hunting in her condition…


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta’d. All mistakes are my own.
> 
> WARNING: ANGST, FLUFF

* * *

 

As her illness started to weigh her down, Y/N took her duffel bag towards the garage where the Impala was parked. Dean had a slight smirk on his face as he threw his stuff in the trunk.

“What are you so chipper about?” Y/N asked. She didn’t mean for it to come out as irritation, and hoped the boys didn’t notice.

“I used to hate ‘milk run’ type hunts, you know,” Dean reminisced, still grinning. “Dad always said they were necessary, especially since they were the most common hunts to go on. 'You’re not always gonna get the rare monsters’ I remember him saying. But given all the crap that’s happened these last…well, our entire lives…I tend to appreciate them more.”

Y/N and Sam listened to Dean’s rambling as they continued to pack, the couple staying silent.

After a few phone calls and some digging, Sam was able to deduce that it was indeed a werewolf, but the fact that it was a loner wolf struck him as weird.

“That  _is_  odd,” Y/N stammered slightly, trying to keep her couch in check, “it’s kinda unheard of for a wolf to be on its own. I mean, they almost always live in packs, hunt in packs, of at least three or four.” She suppressed another cough, which hurt like a bitch.

“Yeah it does strike me as odd,” Sam stated. “But it does happen. From the information I gathered, and talking with law enforcement over the phone, I can conclude that this wolf indeed lives and hunts alone. There’s no indication that he or she part of a pack.”

“Well then,” Dean said. “I guess we’ll just have to get up there and see for ourselves!”

As they were clambering into the car, Y/N could no longer hold it in. She cough the hardest she had since getting sick. It was wet, coarse, and sounded as painful as it felt. Both brothers grimaced at the sound of her wheezy hacks. Dean offered her a handkerchief and she took it, coughing into it with exceptional force. Sam came up and rubbed circles between her shoulder blades. The silent communication between them prompted Dean to go grab a glass of water for her. He filled a thermos so they could hit the road.

When she finally caught her breath, which wasn’t for several minutes, she graciously took the water from Dean and sipped it slowly. The coolness of the life-sustaining substance eased down her sore and aching throat. It took most of her strength not to chug it all at once. She knew she would just end up puking it all up. She couldn’t fathom what Dean would do if she threw up in the back of the Impala.

“Where the hell did that come from?” Dean inquired.

“Yeah,” Sam chimed in, concerned, “that cough sounds like it’s been hanging around a while.”

“It’s nothing, really,” Y/N hoarsely replied, praying another coughing fit didn’t reappear. “I’m sure it’s just the change in weather. It is fall now, the season where my allergies are at their worst, and the last two winters Lebanon saw were brutal. I’m surprised we all didn’t get sick.”

Neither brother looked convinced. “Are you sure you should be hunting at all? I mean, if you’re getting sick, Dean and I can take care of this.” Sam kept his hand over her back as he talked.

“Seriously, guys, I’m alright. I’ve already taken some medicine. Just waiting for it to kick in.”

The boys dropped the subject as Sam helped her into the backseat and Dean settled behind his usual place at the steering wheel, Sam folding himself into shotgun.

Dean brought the aging muscle car to live and pealed out of the Men of Letter’s bunker garage. The ride would only be a few hours long, but to Y/N it felt like an eternity.

_The sooner this hunt is done, the better,_  she thought.  _I just hope I don’t screw it up._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta’d. All mistakes are my own.
> 
> WARNING: ANGST, FAINTING, ILLNESS, MENTIONS OF VOMITING, CANON VIOLENCE

* * *

 

Despite being given all the information they needed, Sam, Dean and Y/N worked the case as if they were going in blind. They pretext with their usual FBI get-ups, questioned local law enforcement, witnesses and neighbors of the missing victims.

“So, Mrs. Anderson, you didn’t see anything, but you heard the commotion?” Sam asked an older woman at her home later that afternoon.

Mrs. Anderson just nodded as she couldn’t take her eyes off a very sick Y/N.

“Are you alright, dear?” She asked Y/N, a tone of worry in her voice. “You look like you need some chicken soup and a nap rather than working.”

Sam and Dean side-eyed Y/N with caution, as if they were predicting she would say something wrong.

But Y/N just smiled her best, albeit weak, smile and replied, “I’m okay. The changing weather tends to bring out my seasonal allergies. That’s all.”

The woman handed Y/N a tissue box and a sympathetic grin; Sam and Dean shared a silent breath of relief. Neither of them knew why they were so tense.

_Perhaps they’re just worried about me,_  Y/N thought as she feinted blowing her nose. She gave the brothers a cautionary glance before they went back to questioning Mrs. Anderson.

Leaving the house, they complied their notes and headed back to the motel.

Walking in, Sam turned to Y/N and said, “honey, maybe you should take a nap. Mrs. Anderson was right. You don’t look well.”

“I’m  _fine,_  Sam,” Y/N grumbled, but that didn’t stop Sam from sliding his hand across her forehead.

“You’re burning up, so I’d say you’re anything  _but_ fine,” Sam mused.

Y/N just rolled her eyes, but ended up taking the bed closest to the front door.

It would take both Sam and Dean shaking her to get her attention. And by then-

“Your fever’s gotten worse,” Dean said, his own hand across her face. He exchanged a concerned look with his brother.

“You need to stay here,” Sam pleaded. “We can’t focus on killing the monster if we’re worried about you.”

“Except,” Y/N began, her cough coming back with a vengeance, “loner werewolves tend to be stronger than a pack wolf. It’s gonna take all three of us working together to bring him down and you know it.”

“She’s gotta point,” Dean mused. “But here’s the thing.  _Can_ you even fight in your condition? I mean, it took both of us practically throwing you across the room to wake you up.”

She raised her head to face the brothers. She knew nothing she said would probably convince them she was fit to hunt, but she had to try.

“I’m good. Let’s just get this hunt over with so we can go home.”

—

The wolf in question did indeed live and hunt all on his own, and masqueraded as a local newspaper delivery man named “Arnold.”

It wasn’t hard to find where he lived either. And once Sam, Dean and Y/N breached his basement, they saw the horror show typically left over from a werewolf’s meals.

They were pieces of bodies all over the floor. Some were easy to identify as the missing locals that initially caught Sam’s attention, most of them couldn’t be solidly confirmed as human anymore, all of them had their hearts ripped out of their chests.

Sam and Dean grimaced at the smell, but Y/N had to fight her stomach tooth and nail to prevent herself from throwing up.

A loud crash sounded from behind them. Arnold, now completely turned from his human form, was ready to attack. He lunged at Dean first, Sam and Y/N attempting to fight him from behind.

A single swipe from his large paw sent Sam flying across the room. Y/N grabbed her gun, ensured it was locked and loaded with silver bullets, and aimed it towards the wolf’s chest.

But that was before her vision became blurry. Dizziness and nausea gradually took over, and before she knew it, she was on the ground. Knocked out cold.

“Y/N!” Sam shouted as he came to. He raced towards her side as the werewolf tussled with Dean; a fight that spilled outside and into the front yard.

Sam picked Y/N up gingerly and grimaced. Her face was ashen colored and she didn’t look like she was breathing. Until a wheezing hack escaped her lips.

Sam was about to say something, but the series of four gunshots sounded from outside. He knew his brother had taken care of the werewolf. Sam gathered Y/N into his arms and ran outside. Dean was in the process of grabbing a shovel to dig a hole big enough to burn the monster’s corpse. But he stopped what he was doing when he saw Y/N in Sam’s arms.

“She passed out, and she’s still burning up,” Sam said quietly.

Dean fished out the Impala’s keys from his pocket. “Get her to the hospital. I’ll finish up here.”

“Are you sure?” Sam looked over his brother and noticed a bad would on his upper arm. “You’re in need of some medical attention yourself.”

“I’m alright,” Dean grunted, “he didn’t bite me, if that’s what you’re thinking. I can patch this up later. Right now, she needs help now. Go. It’ll give me time to properly clean this shit up. I’ll call when I’m done. You can pick me up once she’s settled and cared for.”

And with that, Sam nodded and started getting Y/N into the passenger seat of the car. He brought the engine to life and raced to the nearest hospital, praying it wasn’t too late.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta’d. All mistakes are my own.
> 
> WARNING: ANGST, MENTIONS OF HOSPITALS/DOCTORS, MENTIONS OF ILLNESS, MENTIONS OF MEDICAL TREATMENTS, SLIGHT LANGUAGE, SLIGHT FLUFF

* * *

 

The ride to the hospital was a tense one for Sam.

He kept checking on Y/N to make sure she was still alive, fearing all the while that she would die without him noticing. He had no idea what was going on with her, but because she let it go on for so long-

_It could be too late,_  Sam dreaded internally.

He pulled into the hospital parking lot, quickly put the Impala in park, and dragged an unconscious, sick Y/N inside, screaming for help.

—

Dean decided to “go big or go home” for finishing this job. He dragged the corpse of “Arnold” back inside the house, doused every floor with gasoline and tossed a few lit matches onto the porch, setting the entire house ablaze. It took a few minutes for the flames to spread down to the basement, where most of the gas was dumped, but once it did, Dean had to take a few steps back to avoid being burned. The explosion was nice to look at.

He pulled out his cell phone once he started hearing sirens from the distance; no doubt people heard or felt the explosion and called the appropriate authorities. He dialed Sam’s number.

“Hey,” Dean said into the receiving end of his cell phone. “How’s Y/N?”

_“She’s a little better,”_  Sam said on the other end.  _“Doctor diagnosed her with pneumonia. She was given a ton of IV fluids and that’s at least kept her awake. But she’s also got antibiotics she needs to take. Plus the usual rest and chicken soup as she can tolerate.”_

“Okay.”

_“I take it you need a ride?”_

“Yeah and with the quickness, if you can. I can already hear sirens and if I’m still here when the cops show up-”

_“Good thing I’m already here.”_

Dean turned around to see his beloved Baby pulling up in front of him. Y/N was in the backseat, laying down with the old wool blanket they kept stashed under the seats, sound asleep. Sam put the car in park and slid over towards his usual shotgun seat as Dean climbed behind the wheel. Another few seconds and the Impala’s tired peeled away from what was now a crime scene.

—

Dean decided to drive back to the motel so they could check out, and made the journey back to the Bunker. Sam put Y/N to bed while Dean unloaded the car’s trunk.

Dean was looking forward to a beer and hot meal, but he couldn’t keep his anger buttoned up anymore. As Sam was coming out of his and Y/N’s room, Dean confronted him.

“How are you not pissed about this?” Dean whispered harshly.

“Dean, how many times have we done exactly what Y/N did? When one of us was sick, or hurting, or whatever,” Sam replied, not taking any of Dean’s crap this time. “When it was us sucking, when did we  _ever_ confess it right away?”

Dean blinked.

“Exactly, Dean. Never. It seems to me she’s just taken a page out of the Winchester gospel.”

“Yeah well that book was written by a dick.” Sam sighed at his brother’s quip.

“It was written by God, in case you forgot. My point is…she thought she could handle it. And while she was wrong, I don’t think either of us are in a position to throw stones. Should I be mad? Probably. But I’m not. It doesn’t matter now. All that I care about is her getting better.”

Sam looked back at the door and sighed. “Look, she’s already had a dose of antibiotics. She’s supposed to take them once a day until they’re gone. Are you going to help her out or not?”

While Dean wanted to stay mad, he knew Sam was right. He’d lost count the number of times him and his brother had kept their “secrets.” And he supposed he couldn’t fault for Y/N seeing that has the normal behavior. The truth was, he cared about Y/N a lot. The two of them had their playful banter and usually started arguments just to see who got pissed off the most, which ended with one of them laughing their asses off, but at the end of the day, Dean couldn’t have picked a better girl for his little brother.

“When does she need her meds?” Dean sighed. Sam handed him the prescription bottle, detailing the directions. He nodded. “I’ll make sure she gets it. Don’t worry.”

The brothers parted, letting Y/N rest.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta’d. All mistakes are my own.
> 
> WARNING: FLOOFY FLOOF ENDING STUFFS, SAM AND DEAN BEING BROS, AND CARING LITTLE GOOBERS

* * *

 

As he promised, Dean gave Y/N her medication when the time came. He woke her up, had her sit up, and made sure she swallowed the pill with the glass of water he made her before allowing her to settle back into bed for more sleep.

Sam and Dean alternated who went in to check on Y/N. This went back and forth as she continued to stay in a comatose-like state for the next several days. She hadn’t had anything to eat, so Sam made her some chicken soup. But while she managed to eat some of it, the warm food was rejected by her stomach and ended up in the trashcan by her bed.

Neither brother minded this menial task. They could have spent the entire time bitter about her getting sick, but at this point it was moot. She was alive, and she was on the mend. Everything else could be handled once she was functional again.

On day six of Y/N being sick, she awoke and felt like she had been given a new life. She was alert, refreshed and, for once, not hacking up a lung. She was even hungry enough to eat a round of Dean’s famous strawberries and cream pancakes. The thought of bacon and eggs accompanying them made her stomach growl audibly. She smirked as she got out of bed, taking a few tedious steps to ensure they still worked.

The smell of her unwashed body almost turned her appetite off, and instead made her way to the bathroom to take a shower.

“Look who’s back from the dead!” Dean called out as Y/N entered the kitchen, the smell of coffee and breakfast enticing her further. “How you feeling, kiddo?”

“Just as you said,” Y/N replied, taking the cup of coffee Sam poured for her with a smile. “Like I awoke from the dead. I feel great!”

“That’s good to hear,” Sam’s relief was written all over his face.

_He must’ve been really worried,_  Y/N thought, a pang of guilt stabbing at her gut.

Dean put a plate of hotcakes, eggs, sausage links and a glass of orange juice in front of her. “Dig in, sweetheart. It’s been a while since you’ve had a decent meal.”

“How long was I out?” Y/N said with a slight mouthful of eggs. She moaned unconsciously at the taste; Dean knew she preferred her eggs over medium and he’d taken the time to make them just right. Sam and Dean chuckled.

“Almost a week,” Sam replied. “And that was after you were brought home from the hospital.”

“That bad huh?”

“Y/N, you scared the crap out of us.”

Sam and Y/N looked at Dean, who now had a scowl on his perfectly chiseled face.

“You could’ve been killed on that hunt. Hell, you could’ve killed all of us. Next time, if you’re sick, just…” Dean took a breath, attempting to reign in his emotions. “Just tell us. There’s no shame in being sick. There’s no point in hiding it either. It’s okay to ask for help once in a while. Don’t be like us.”

“You mean, don’t be stubborn and talk to you about my feelings?”

Sam and Dean simultaneously said, “exactly.”

“Sure. Just as soon as you two do the same.”

The smug look on Y/N’s face was in response to both brothers finding the tile on the wall fascinating. She laughed loudly.

“You two I swear,” she dug into her breakfast once more. Washing it down with the juice, she said, “look. I’m sorry for worrying y'all. It wasn’t my intention. I honestly thought this was something I could handle. I didn’t think it was anything as serious as…”

“Pneumonia,” Sam filled in.

“Right. I didn’t think it was a big deal. It really did feel like the start of my usual bought of seasonal allergies. By the time I realized it wasn’t…”

“Hey,” Dean walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. “We forgive you. Our only concern was that you got well again. You’ve got a few more days left of the antibiotics, but I think it’s safe to say you’re back to your same old insane self.”

“You’re insane,” Y/N quipped. “So…I say we have a shut in day. Netflix, movies, and a chaotic amount of unhealthy junk food.”

“Sounds good to me. Unless Mr. Health Nut-Job has anything against it.”

Sam threw an accusatory look towards his brother before smiling at his girlfriend. “Sounds good to me too.”

After breakfast, Y/N did the dishes for Dean as Sam made a run to the store to pick up the snacks in question. That didn’t stop him from picking up some freeze-dried banana chips and pistachios for himself.

The rest of the day was indeed spent binge watching TV shows and documentaries, all things that the three of them had wanted to catch up on; the sad fact about their lives as hunters was, no matter what they did, relaxation tended to take a back seat.

Dean was griping about how a certain show was played out, to which Y/N responded with the tossing of popcorn in his general direction. Dean retaliated by stealing the Twizzlers in her hand, which led to Sam throwing a pillow at Dean since his action knocked his banana chips all over the floor.

“Serves you right,” Dean spat playfully. “Banana chips aren’t real food.”

“Yes they are!”

“Says who, Gandhi?”

Y/N laughed as they bantering continued. It was moments like these that made her appreciate the life she had with them. She had a big brother-little sister relationship with Dean, and Sam was her protector in plaid. She couldn’t imagine what life would be like without them.

So she didn’t. She turned up the volume on the TV to shut them both up, to which they settled back on the couch with her.

Sam wrapped his arms around her. Dean fluffed her hair in a loving gesture.

_Yep,_ Y/N thought.  _Life’s pretty good right now._

##  **F I N**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all who read this to the end! I forgot to post it here when I originally posted it on Tumblr, but it was a commission from a good friend. She originally commissioned it back in July and was patient with me the entire time until I finally got around to writing it. Bless you Natalie! Thanks again! Love y'all <3 xx

**Author's Note:**

> Bless you @85natalie on Tumblr for being so patient with me. You commissioned me to write this back in like July and now that it’s late October, I’m just now getting around to finishing it. You are a goddamn national treasure. Love you!


End file.
